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MLB 2024 playoff picture: Tigers win postseason; Updated Bracket, Rankings | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

MLB 2024 playoff picture: Tigers win postseason; Updated Bracket, Rankings | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

B/R

A late-season surge has catapulted the Detroit Tigers into the postseason for the first time in 10 years.

The Tigers secured an AL wild-card spot after Friday’s win over the Chicago White Sox.

Detroit appeared to be on track for another losing season as late as July, prompting the front office to go into selling mode at the trade deadline. They dealt Jack Flaherty, Carson Kelly, Mark Canha and Andrew Chafin in a series of moves.

Instead of folding after that, the Tigers responded by winning 24 of their last 32 games since August 23rd their first playoff appearance since 2014.

Here’s a look at the current playoff matchups and lineup if the season ended today, as well as the current standings.

Projected MLB playoff series

  • AL Wild Card Series: No. 3 Houston Astros vs. No. 6 Kansas City Royals; No. 4 Baltimore Orioles vs. No. 5 Detroit Tigers
  • NL Wild Card Series: No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers vs. No. 6 Arizona Diamondbacks; No. 4 San Diego Padres vs. No. 5 New York Mets
  • First-round byes: No. 1 New York Yankees and No. 2 Cleveland Guardians (American League); No. 1 Los Angeles Dodgers and No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies (National League)
  1. New York Yankees (93-66); Won division and bye in first round
  2. Baltimore Orioles (88-71, 5GB); secured the playoff spot
  3. Boston Red Sox (80-79, 13GB)
  4. Tampa Bay Rays (78-81, 15GB)
  5. Toronto Blue Jays (74-85, 19GB)
  1. Cleveland Guardians (92-67); Won division and bye in first round
  2. Detroit Tigers (86-74, 6.5 GB; secured playoff spot
  3. Kansas City Royals (85-75, 7.5GB)
  4. Minnesota Twins (82-77, 10GB)
  5. Chicago White Sox (39-121, 53.5GB)
  1. Houston Astros (86-73); Division decided
  2. Seattle Mariners (82-77, 4GB)
  3. Texas Rangers (75-84, 11GB)
  4. Oakland Athletics (69-90, 17GB)
  5. Los Angeles Angels (63-96, 23GB)
  1. Baltimore Orioles (88-71); Wild card won
  2. Detroit Tigers (86-74); Wild card won
  3. Kansas City Royals (85-74)
  4. Minnesota Twins (82-77, 3GB)
  5. Seattle Mariners (82-77, 3GB)
  1. Philadelphia Phillies (94-66); Won division and bye in first round
  2. New York Mets (87-70, 5.5GB)
  3. Atlanta Braves (87-71, 6GB)
  4. Washington Nationals (69-90, 25GB)
  5. Miami Marlins (59-100, 35GB)
  1. Milwaukee Brewers (91-68); Division decided
  2. Chicago Cubs (82-78, 9.5GB)
  3. St. Louis Cardinals (81-78, 10GB)
  4. Cincinnati Reds (76-84, 15.5GB)
  5. Pittsburgh Pirates (74-85, 17GB)
  1. Los Angeles Dodgers (95-64); Won division and bye in first round
  2. San Diego Padres (91-68, 4GB); secured the playoff spot
  3. Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71, 4GB)
  4. San Francisco Giants (79-80, 16GB)
  5. Colorado Rockies (61-98, 34GB)
  1. San Diego Padres (91-68, +3 games); Wild card won
  2. New York Mets (87-70)
  3. Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71)
  4. Atlanta Braves (86-71, 1GB)

The Tigers once again seemed like an afterthought in the AL. They were nine games under .500 (39-48) and 9.5 games out of a wild-card berth as recently as July 4th after losing their fifth straight game on August 2nd.

Since August 3rd, however, the Tigers have been in full swing. They had a five-game winning streak in at least four games, with series wins over the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles (twice) and Kansas City Royals.

While it took a while for most of the Tigers to get going, Tarik Skubal was their constant all season long. The 27-year-old, who has been mentioned as a potential candidate to be dealt before the trade deadline, is the AL Cy Young leader with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 192 innings over 31 starts.

The Tigers won’t win games if they get into a slugfest. Even limiting their performance to the second half of the season, they rank 20th in runs scored and 24th in weighted on-base average since the All-Star break.

But the fact that the AL’s best pitcher is starting the first game of a wild-card series gives the Tigers a leg up on most of the teams they’ll face. The opponent still has to be determined based on the results of this weekend’s games.

The Tigers will likely face either the Orioles or Houston Astros, but there’s a slim chance they advance to No. 4 and host the Orioles or Kansas City Royals in the best-of-three series.